08-10-2026 Geologic Safety Agenda Packet

TOWN OF PORTOLA VALLEY Nan Shostak, Chair, Bob Wrucke, Vice Chair Geologic Safety Committee Patricia McCrory, Secretary Regular Meeting Gary Ernst, Member Steve Ingebritsen, Member August 10, 2026 Simon Klemperer, Member 10:00 AM REGULAR MEETING – HISTORIC SCHOOLHOUSE - 765 PORTOLA ROAD ~ PORTOLA VALLEY REMOTE MEETING ADVISORY: On March 1, 2023, all committees in Portola Valley will return to conducting in-person meetings. A Zoom link will be provided for members of the public to participate remotely; however, the Town cannot guarantee there will be no technical issues with the software during the meeting. For best public participation results, attending the meeting in-person is advised. ASSISTANCE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance to participate in this meeting, please contact the Town Clerk at (650) 851-1700 or by email at towncenter@portolavalley.net. Notification 48 hours prior to the meeting will enable the Town to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to this meeting. VIRTUAL PARTICIPATION VIA ZOOM To access the meeting by computer: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84439659510?pwd=AlKcnO48hd58qbcQ4gWjUZ5Z8ovaRi.1 Webinar ID: 844 3965 9510 Passcode: 276242 To access the meeting by phone: 1-669-900-6833 or 1-888-788-0099 (toll-free) Mute/Unmute – Press *6 / Raise Hand – Press *9 1. CALL TO ORDER & ROLL CALL 2. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS FOR ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA Speakers' time is limited to three minutes. 3. OLD BUSINESS a. Progress reports from subcommittees for ongoing projects: Evacuation, Hazards, Communications and Outreach, Safety Element, Resilience in Japan, External Coordination b. Other reports 4. NEW BUSINESS a. Approve minutes of the (1) June 8, 2026 and (2) July 13, 2026 meetings b. Quorum check for upcoming months c. Discussion: Have GSC booth at Town Picnic September 11? d. For GSC discussion and approval: Steve Ingebritsen’s PV Newsletter article e. Ross Stein talk, tentatively October 8: “Quakes and Gold: How San Francisco and the Bay Area were Shaped by Both” (slide talk with demonstrations): Types of audiences? How to advertise efficiently? f. Discussion: Fault setbacks in PV seismic zoning ordinance 5. ADJOURNMENT This meeting body meets regularly on the second Monday of the month. ******************************************************************************************************************* Land Acknowledgement: The Town of Portola Valley acknowledges the colonial history of this land we dwell upon—the unceded territory of the Ramaytush (rah-my-toosh) Ohlone, Tamien Nation, and Muwekma (mah-WEK-mah) Ohlone, who endured a human and cultural genocide that included removal from their lands and their sacred relationship to the land. Portola Valley recognizes that we profit from the commodification of land seized from indigenous peoples and now bear the ecological consequences. We seek to understand the impact of these legacies on all beings and to find ways to make repair. 1 Town of Portola Valley – Geologic Safety Committee Agenda August 10, 2026 Page 2 of 9 Agenda Item #4a(1). Minutes of the June 8, 2026 meeting Minutes of GEOLOGIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING TOWN OF PORTOLA VALLEY Monday, June 8, 2026 Meeting location: Town Council Chamber in the Old Schoolhouse. Committee Members present: Nan Shostak [chair] Bob Wrucke [vice-chair] Gary Ernst Simon Klemperer Steve Ingebritsen Town Council members present: Mary Hufty, Town Council liaison MEETING SUMMARY There were discussions on forming a sub-committee to compile comments on the town’s latest draft of the Safety Element, and discussions on the process of updating the town’s geologic maps. The Planning Commission has approved the changes. Dr. Kimberly Blisniuk, a professor at San Jose State University, was a guest speaker during the meeting. Her presentation was mostly on her research on the San Andreas fault at Sanborn County Park, near Saratoga, southeast of Portola Valley and the on-land segment of the San Gregorio fault near Half Moon Bay. Her results show the slip rate is higher southwest of the town than previously thought. The slip rates are Sections of San Andreas fault Slip Rate (mm/yr) North Coast 20.4 – 21.8 Peninsula 14.9 – 15.8 Santa Cruz Mountain 24.8 ± 3.0 A higher slip rate is important information for the town of Portola Valley. Call to order, roll call & quorum check: @10:03 Chair Nan Shostak called the meeting to order. Comments from the public on topics not on the agenda: Nan called for comments. • Bob Wrucke announced that Chet Wrucke, a former Geologic Safety Committee member, was recently in Stanford Hospital. Old Business: Chair Nan Shostak asked for updates from subcommittees. Most subcommittees had no updates. Earthquake Evacuation sub-committee: Bob Wrucke had made some progress on writing a first draft of the report that will describe neighborhood in individual neighborhoods in Portola Valley. 2 Town of Portola Valley – Geologic Safety Committee Agenda August 10, 2026 Page 3 of 9 Safety Element: There was a long discussion about the town’s draft of the new Safety Element. The discussion started with focusing on the towns two main roads for an evacuation: Alpine Road and Portola Road. Congestion on the roads will get worse when more houses are built in the town. The two roads are now two-lanes. There is a need for the main evacuation roads to have two-lanes for outbound traffic. An extra outbound lane can be important during an evacuation of the town. The recent Palisades fire in the Santa Monica Mountains of Los Angeles County showed that the need for extra water and congested roads were problems. Congested a problem for people who were evacuating because of the fire. When there is a wildfire the ability to evacuate quickly is very import. The dual-lane problem is not in the Safety Element. The Safety Element is meant to be a high-level report that does not have details. Nan said our committee has until June 30, 2026 to make comments about the Safety Element. She asked for each member of the committee to read the draft Safety Element. The current draft of the safety element is available on the Safety Element Update webpage in the town website. The Safety Element has very high-level goals. The latest draft of the Safety Element includes suggestions that were submitted by Nan and Pat. Nan asked that everyone on the committee read the entire document. The committee is being asked to comment on the content of the Safety Element. The committee is not being asked to approve the document. Simon Klemperer said the document has too many grammatical errors, missing maps and broken links to approve the current version of the document. Nan said our committee is going to have to submit written comments. How will we do that? Do we need another meet or should we have a sub-committee. The goal of the sub-committee is to compile a list of comments on the draft Safety Element. @10:30 Simon Klemperer moved to form a sub-committee that will compile a list of comments and recommendations on the Safety Element. The motion was seconded by Bob Wrucke. The motion was approved by the committee. The sub-committee members will be Simon, Steve, and Nan. Darcy Smith, the Town Manager, does not want to have to rewrite the entire document. The Safety Element report is supposed to be a high-level document that does not have details. @11:36 Nan talked about the process to update the town’s geologic map. The changes to the map have already been approved by the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission is going to get the updates from Cotton Shires & Associates. The town has left our committee with a budget of $600. The updates to the town’s geologic maps are not part of the Geologic Safety Committee’s budget. Nan said the changes to the map are available in the documents for a Planning Commission meeting. She also said it is not in the purview of the Geologic Safety Committee to question changes for specific development projects. Our committee does not comment on specific projects. The scanning of old geologic reports will be done by the town’s Planning Department. There is a document that has a sub-section on map amendments. The list includes parcel numbers. There was a discussion on the process how geotechnical reports can result in the town’s geologic map being updated. @10:53 Rita Comes asked who communicates to neighbors about what geologic hazards have been found a property. The answer is each home owner needs to stay vigilant, or wait for the next update to the town’s geologic map. Rita commented on the 7.8 earthquake in the Philippines this morning, she has friends there. @11:04 Approval of minutes of the previous meeting on May 15, 2026: • Bob Wrucke: The weekday in the minutes needs to be changed from Monday to Friday. • Nan: The committee agreed to adjourn at 12:13, not 11:13. • Bob made a motion to approve the minutes with the two corrections. Motion seconded by Simon. • The committee voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the May 2025 meeting. 3 Town of Portola Valley – Geologic Safety Committee Agenda August 10, 2026 Page 4 of 9 Date of the next meeting There was a discussion to see if there will be a quorum for committee’s next scheduled meeting on Monday July 13, 2026 and on Monday August 10, 2026. There probably will be enough members t have a quorum for both meetings. @11:06 Guest Speaker Dr. Kim Blisniuk, Associate Professor, at San Jose State University made a presentation on her research studying the San Andreas fault at Sanborn County Park in Saratoga California\. 11:42 end of presentation Adjournment: @ 12:08. Committee voted to adjourn the meeting. Addendum on guest speaker presentation: After the meeting a separate video of Dr. Kim Blisniuk’s presentation was posted on the Town of Portola Valley’s channel on YouTube.com and a transcript of her presentation was created. After Kim’s approval, the transcript will be posted in the GSC section of the Town’s web site. YouTube recordings from June 8, 2026: Full meeting: https://youtu.be/IPQ_ua0YQwg Speaker segment: https://youtu.be/ZVQyC6HBlXI